‘Lenient’ fine for charity cash thief

A heartless man who stole charity money intended for injured Navy men was fined just £50.

Magistrates admitted they had been “lenient” towards John Wiltshire, 18, who pinched the money from a charity box.

The box – containing just £10 in donated change – was stolen from chippie The Laughing Halibut in Whitchurch Road, Pangbourne, on Thursday, June 11.

At Reading Magistrates’ Court on Monday, June 29, Wiltshire – dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans – admitted one count of theft.

Joanne Belsey, prosecuting, explained Wiltshire, from Lister Close, Purley, walked straight into the chip shop and up to the counter.

He grabbed the box which was attached by a chain and ran off.

Miss Belsey said: “He [the chip shop owner] immediately ran after the defendant towards a park. He decided to phone the police and they came straight away. They found the defendant in a park known as The Meadows.

“They found the charity box still attached to a chain. The defendant said he threw it away because he did not want to get caught. He said he would have kept it otherwise.”

Wiltshire, defending himself, said he had taken a course teaching “kids to play football” but currently was on income support.

Chair of the magistrates Felicity Hewison fined Wiltshire £50 and ordered him to pay £60 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge, before adding: “We’ve been quite lenient.”